William Bliss Baker (American 1859 - 1886) Stream Through a Bog

Baker was born in New York City and spent his boyhood in the village of Ballston Spa south of Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1876, he began art studies at the National Academy of Design in New York City. In 1879, he won the Elliot prize in drawing. Baker began exhibiting his paintings at the Academy in 1881. In the 1880s, his brother Guy Baker purchased an estate in Ballston, south of Ballston, whose holdings extended to the shoreline of Ballston Lake.

At William’s request, the family built a summer home on the lake. Known as ”The Castle,” one could see the Catskill Mountains from the third-floor balcony on a clear day. It was at the ”The Castle” that Baker completed many of his paintings. In 1885, Baker won the Academy’s Hallgarten prize. The "New York Evening Post" stated that "the young artist was animated from his earliest years, and this, aided by his great industry and energy, was among the chief elements of his success in the line of art he had chosen."

Unfortunately, a skating accident in late 1885 left him with a serious back injury from which he eventually died, in 1886, after suffering for nearly a year. The New York Post said of his death, “His untimely death will be deeply regretted by all who take an intelligent interest in American artistic progress.”

High auction record for this artist: $23,000.